SCOTT SUMNER: The Last 6 Months Have Been A Total Disaster For Modern Liberalism

YouTubeScott Sumner is one of the pre-eminent advocates of the idea that the Fed should engage in Nominal GDP targeting, as a way of getting us out of the crisis now and smoothing economic cycles in the future.

But while he is a big advocate of Fed easing, he considers himself to be a conservative (despite the fact that many on the right these days are associated with gold and hard money). And in recent post (via @noahpinion) he argues that the last 6 months have actually been a disaster for a lot of modern liberal ideas.

He cites 6 reasons for this.

We summarize in bullets:

Despite the sequester, the economy has been doing fine, which undermines how big of a deal “austerity” is.

The popular left-wing view that you need fiscal stimulus at the “zero lower bound” has been undermined by Japan, where the Bank of Japan is succeeding in easing.

An Oregon study showed that Medicaid expansion does not improved health outcomes.

Another study showed that giving poor students computers doesn’t help education outcomes.

The IRS scandal.

The left has been adopting Herbert Hoover’s arguments that despite the weak economy under Obama, things could have been worse.

Sumner’s bottom line: Rather than crowing about how they were “right”, liberals like Krugman should show more humility.

NOW WATCH: Money & Markets videos

Want to read a more in-depth view on the trends influencing Australian business and the global economy? BI / Research is designed to help executives and industry leaders understand the major challenges and opportunities for industry, technology, strategy and the economy in the future. Sign up for free at research.businessinsider.com.au.